Gunung Nuang (Hulu Langat)

30 Apr 2011 - Gunung Nuang is situated in Pangsoon, Hulu Langat, Selangor.  Standing at 1493m,  it's summit is the highest point in Selangor.  I have always wanted to climb Gunung Nuang ever since I've heard of it's infamy.  When I found out Uncle George was organising the climb,  I signed up immediately. 

There are many stories of how tough and challenging the climb is and they are all true haha.  First of all,  there's sleep deprivation. Traveling from Singapore to Selangor in a mini bus takes about 6 - 7 hrs and I am not the sort that can fall asleep anywhere, especially in a small noisy bus. I probably slept about 1 - 2 hrs that night ! We departed Singapore at about 10:30 pm that night and arrived at the Gunung Nuang Park at about 7 am.  This included rest stops and time taken for supper at Yong Peng and Roti Canai breakfast at a mamak stall near Gunung Nuang. 

Then there's the issue of turnaround time. As we wouldn't want to get stuck in the Nuang forest at night, we probably have to turn around at about 1 pm. Depending on the time we arrive at the park, we have about 5 hrs to reach the summit and another 5 hrs to get down.

Leeches. When it rains, Nuang is known to have leeches.

Water.  How much water to bring for a 8- 10 hrs hike ? Being the water guzzling type and the kind of person that sweat tons on a hot day, I know i have to bring more water. 

I spoke with some of the seasoned hikers in the group who have attempted Nuang before. One of them have climbed Nuang 5 times !  I was advised to bring at least 3 litres of water.  On a previous climb, one of the hikers only brought 1.5 litres of water. He ran out of water on the way down and was dehydrated and turning delusional. He was dizzy and falling over on flat road. Although he was laughing when he told the story,  I uncertainly didn't want to experience that ! It is also possible to refill water from the rivers, but having seen "Monsters Inside Me" a documentary on people acquiring parasites from insect bites and drinking untreated water, I decided not to take the risk and brought along 3.5 litres of water.

Gunung Naung (1498 m)

The "bus" that brought us here ....

At the entrance of Gunung Nuang

We started our trek at 7:30 am.  The trek starts with an 1 hr+ walk along a trail, similar to the trails in the MacRitchie Nature Reserve. There are no vertical steps to climb here, but it has lots of slopes that goes up and down and are much steeper than those in the MacRitchie trail. This portion of the trek is commonly referred to as the "never ending road" as the route just seem to be endless, especially on the way out ! Some of the hikers suffered leech bites here. I noticed those that got bitten either rested in the huts or stopped to take photos. One the victims wore trekking slippers which was like fresh meat for the leeches !!!! Being paranoid of leeches, i always look down and checked whenever I stopped.

 The "never ending road" that seems to go on forever ...

We soon get to end of the "flat" trail where we have to cross 4 rivers. When the water is low, it's possible to get across the river by skipping from rock to rock. At one of the river crossing, I slipped and I grabbed on to one of the spiky trunk to stablise myself. Yikes ! This is the first "gift" from Nuang, four bloody holes on my right palm.

River (stream) crossing. The water level was much higher on our way out ...

One of rivers we have to cross

After crossing the rivers, the terrain changes drastically.  This is where you start climbing. It's like Gunung Lambak 3 times over -  Steep climbs with very little level ground. There are certain sections where you have to use your hands and arms to pull yourself up.

Roots are your best friends and your worst enemies !

There isn't much time to rest once you hit the steep climb. Perhaps we took too much time at the "never ending road" or at the river crossings.  From here on, you just climb, climb and climb. There are lots of obstacles and fallen trees along the trail.  You either climb over, crawl under or circumvent these obstacles. Once I was so tired, as I stood up after going under a big tree trunk, I hit my head against it. Ouch !

We made our way to the Kem Pacat, which was about 1360m (according to Uncle George's watch).  We were told we will start going down when we reach this section of the climb, but we were still going up. Exhausted and perhaps almost delusional, we hoped we had taken a new route that will lead us straight to the summit ! haha.  All these thoughts disappeared  quickly as we started to descend. We went down to 1285m and started to climb up again.  There trail here is pretty treacherous - it's rocky, narrow and slippery. 

Reaching the peak was the happiest moment of the climb! I reached the peak at 12:40pm. It had taken me 5 hrs 10 mins to reach the summit.  There wasn't really much time to rest and admire the scenery. There's a metal cone-shaped shelter at the summit.  Does anyone knows what's the purpose of this structure ? To shelter  against the sun ? Definitely not against the rain, it will become a magnet for lighting strikes.

Power gels were my good friends that day - they filled my stomach, provided energy and electrolytes that prevented cramps. I refueled with power gels (throughout the hike) and force fed myself a nasty tasting banana flavoured power bar at the summit.

At the summit :)

At about 1 pm, we started to descend. The steep rocky terrain which was difficult to ascend, is also terrible to descend. You have to lower your feet first and feel for the ground below. For some, the descend took longer than the climb up.

I was scrambling to get down fast as I heard rain in the distance. Although only 2pm, the forest was already pretty dark in the more densely forested areas. This is where I slipped on the muddy terrain and grabbed on to another spiky branch !This time it's 3 bloody wounds on my left palm.  

Somewhere along the descend, I caught up with Uncle George. Keeping up with him is almost impossible ! He is very fast,  skipping from one foothold to another.

When we finally got to the river, it was a major relieve as the terrain is much easier from here on.

By now, I have already consumed 3+ litres of water. I have about 300 ml of water left. Just in case my water ran out, I filled my hydration pack with about 1 litre of river water. Haha, I reckoned I wouldn't drink it unless i really run out of water.   

The trail at the river is not so obvious even though we asked for directions from some campers at the river, we had to backtrack a few times to find the correct path.

It was about 3:30pm when we got to the flat trail. Uncle George started running and took off, leaving me to cover the trail alone. If you think this trail was long when you came in, it is even longer on the way out ! Tired, hot and exhausted, the walk was long, labourious and demoralizing.

There were still people making their way in, some carrying food and supplies, probably to camp near the river. There was a guy carrying a guitar in and was using it as a resting pole when he stopped to rest. Haha.

I made it out at 4:40pm. It had taken me 3 hrs 40 mins to descend. I still had about 100 ml of water left and I didn't drink any of the water from the river. Phew :)
 

Nuang is a very nice place to appreciate nature. However, because of the tough climb and tight turnaround time, there isn't much time to appreciate it.  There are lots of gigantic bamboos along the "never ending road".  The rivers and waterfalls make it a nice place to camp and chill out. I am not too sure what is growing at the steep sections as I was either rushing to get up or scrambling to get down. 
 

I returned with lots of "presents" from Nuang. Lots of scratches on my legs, a bruised toe nail, a bump on my head, 3 holes on my left palm, 4 holes on my right palm and abrasion on my arms.

As one fellow hiker puts it, "Hikers have short term memory" We tend to forget pain quickly. I am looking forward to doing Nuang again, hopefully I will be fitter so that I can enjoy the climb better.